Baku, Azerbaijan, July 13
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Iran’s iron ore reserve stands at 5 billion tons according to the latest estimates, said the chairman of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association, Qadir Qiafeh.
Over 3.1 billion of the reserves are proven, Qiafeh said, IRIB news agency reported July 13.
Iran ranks 10th in the world in terms of iron ore reserves, he said.
Qiafeh forecasted that the figure will increase in the coming years due to systematic explorations which are planed to be carried out by state-run and private companies across the country.
He further referred to China as main importer of Iran’s iron ore.
Iran’s major state-run iron ore companies produced about 6.053 million tons of iron ore concentrate during the first two months of current fiscal year (March 20-May 21), according to the latest statistics released by the Islamic Republic’s Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).
The figure indicates a 43-percent increase compared to the preceding year.
The report did not include the volume of iron ore produced by private sector companies, which in total produce 14 million tons of iron ore annually in Iran.
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